Isaiah 33:1

PROVIDENCE

Isaiah 33:1. Woe to thee that spoilest, &c.

Dr. Geikie says: As a nation the Assyrians are branded as treacherous, untruthful, and lawless (Nahum 3:1; Jonah 3:8). No treaty could bind them; might was right; and when interest seemed to demand it, they “regarded no man” (Isaiah 33:8). Their pride was that of a race which looked on all others as their natural inferiors (Zephaniah 2:15; Ezekiel 31:10; Isaiah 10:7; Isaiah 37:24). [1213]

[1213] Some time before the return of the Assyrians, Hezekiah had sought to deprecate the wrath of Sennacherib, of which terrible rumours had reached him from Lachish. For this end he had sent ambassadors, in the hope that they might possibly convince the great king that no treachery was intended, and save the country from a second invasion, or possibly even obtain favourable terms for Lachish itself. The embassy had found him at the city, which was soon after taken by storm, and delivered to the tender mercies of the soldiery. A slab from his palace at Nineveh, now in the British Museum, shows him in state “receiving plunder of the town of Lachish.” He sits on a throne before his tent, two arrows in one hand and his bow in the other, while prisoners are being brought before him, an officer, attended by a guard, stating the facts respecting them. Two eunuchs stand with feather flaps to wave over him for coolness, and to keep away the flies. Two horses, ready for his use, are behind, soldiers with tall lances attending them. The front rank of prisoners before him kneel to implore mercy, and behind them is a long file of their unfortunate companions. Some whose fate has already been decided have been led a short way off and killed; others may be spared as slaves. A chariot with two horses stands near—perhaps that of Sennacherib—and numerous fruit-trees over the whole slab show the fruitfulness of the country. A strong force of horse and foot on the right of the picture guards the king.—Geikie.

The text brings before us the doctrine of an overruling Providence.

We see an overruling Providence at work—

1. In meting out punishment to the wicked (H. E. I. 4604, 4612).

2. In accomplishing a just retribution. The Assyrian is paid back by the Babylonian (Revelation 13:10); Jacob’s treachery is returned to him in his son’s deceit (1 Timothy 5:24; P. D. 2995).

3. In bringing good out of evil. Wicked men overreach themselves; the devil is outwitted. The short-sighted vengeance of man becomes an instrument of perfecting the higher nature of the people of God, whom they oppress; the fire of man’s wrath is transformed into the refining fire of Divine purification (Malachi 3:3).—J. Macrae Simcock.